Thousands of people die on America's highway each year because of poor roadway markers. Many of these deaths occur in accidents that are attributable to low light conditions or an inability of the driver to adequately see curves and bends in the approaching roadway. Driving at night can be particularly difficult because many human beings have a lessened visual acuity in low light conditions. Conventional highway markers that are purely reflective do not adequately meet the needs of many people with such lessened visual acuity.
A fundamental problem with traditional reflective highway markers is that they reflect light in a straight path even though many roadways are not necessarily straight. Additionally, automotive headlights do not have consistent optical power across a wide viewing angle. As such, optional power declines at the outer edges of the headlight. This phenomenon is characteristic of all back-reflective headlights.
Still another problem with conventional highway markers commonly in use on highways today is that they reflect light of a wavelength that is not easily detected by the human eye in low ambient light conditions. Many reflective highway markers are yellow. However, yellow is not necessarily the optimal color for detection by the human eye in low light conditions. For example, the lighting of airport runways is typically done using blue lights because the human eye sees the wavelength of blue light better than it can see light of the yellow wavelength. What is needed are highway markers that can help reduce the number of injuries and fatalities that occur on highways due to accidents precipitated by inability to see highways, obstructions in the road, or other dangers that drivers can encounter while traveling in low light conditions.